


Without a Great Divide

by idra



Series: The Method of Human Communication [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Aftermath of the battle, Avengers and Coulson's team working together, M/M, Team Bonding, Unintentional Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-11 07:13:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12930189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idra/pseuds/idra
Summary: A battle against Hydra leads to Steve worrying about Tony, which leads to Steve making a bit of an idiot of himself.





	Without a Great Divide

**Author's Note:**

> This is the fic for September. I was going to keep going with it, but it seemed like a good ending spot. Plus, I still have October and November and December to write before the end of the year. Enjoy!

Steve glances over when he realizes Sam has just touched down next to him. “How’s it looking?” 

“Stark’s got it under control.” Sam nudges him with his elbow. “Bucky’s doing good. Granted, May ain’t letting him more than fifty feet away, but...” 

Steve nods, smiling a little. “Well, yeah. It’s his first actual outing as an Avenger. He’s doing great, but she’s more...” 

“She’s his control switch,” Natasha says, sidling up to the other two. She pokes Sam in the side, wrinkling her nose at him. “He’s good though. He’s nearly as good a fighter as you are, Steve.” 

“Better when he’ll feel more comfortable with the fighting Hydra part of the job,” Steve says. “He’s still worried they’ll be able to trigger him. He’s not necessarily wrong.” Steve shrugs and turns, punching a bad guy. “Why do they try to sneak up on us? Are they stupid?” 

Sam snorts, taking to the air. “Same reason people seem to think that May, Natasha, and Daisy are the weak links. They can’t see beyond what they’re used to.” He takes off into the thick of the fight and Steve shakes his head, glancing over at Natasha, who is currently strangling one of the Hydra agents with her thighs. 

Focusing back on the fight, Steve punches another bad guy, then makes his way over to where Thor and Hulk are bashing bad guys between them. “Can a regular fella get in on this fight?” he asks, holding up the shield for Hulk to bounce one of the Hydra men off.

Hulk glares at him. “You no regular.”

Thor laughs and slams Mjolnir into someone’s stomach, nodding when they fly into the Hulk’s waiting fist. “Our green friend speaks true, Captain.” 

“Eh. Compared to a God and a Hulk? I’m fairly regular.” Steve punches another bad guy, watching as he flies into Mjolnir, then into Hulk who swats him like a fly. “We make a good team though.”

“Best team,” Hulk says, roaring when he gets shot in the back. He turns and throws a rock at the guy shooting at him. “Bad!” 

Steve tries not to chuckle at that and turns when he hears Tony yelling. “Stark!” He starts for where he knows Tony was last.

“Don’t you dare, Rogers,” Tony’s voice says over the comms. “I got hit, but the suit is fine. I’m fine. If you can’t control yourself, Hulk will put you in time out.” 

“Tin can hurt?” is Hulk’s response. 

“Tin can is fine,” Tony replies. “Seriously, I am fine. I yelled because I was startled. War Machine, tell ‘em!” 

“Cap, Hulk, he’s as fine as he can be. He’s still flying, his systems are good to go.”

Steve takes a deep breath and stops running for Tony’s location. “If you’re lying to us, I’m letting the Hulk deal with you.”

Tony laughs through the comms. “You got it, now go kick some Hydra ass, Steve. Find Bucky and work with him. Show us “youngins” how you old men used to do it back in the day.” 

“I’ll show you an old man, Stark,” Bucky’s voice interrupts over the system. “Get back to shooting bad guys before I find the best vantage point to do it for you.” 

“Already there,” Clint says.

“Chatter!” Coulson’s voice snaps over the communication system suddenly. “Focus on the bad guys, not your snarking at each other!” 

“Sir, yes, sir,” comes May’s voice over the comms. “How ‘bout everybody pipes down and focuses on the objective?” 

Steve chuckles as he joins up with Bucky and May. “Feisty. No wonder you’re so smitten, Buck.” 

“Shut up, Stevie,” Bucky mutters as he punches almost through a Hydra agent. He smirks over at May. “Bet I can punch more of these assholes than Stevie can.” 

“Doubt it,” Steve says, punching two agents at once. “I’m already ahead.”

“No, you’re not.” 

“Am,” Steve says, punching another agent as Bucky punches one. 

“Not,” Bucky says, throwing a fist at one, then a second, then a third in quick succession.

“Grow up, children! You’re supposed to be older than all of us,” Natasha says as she moves to stand back to back with May.

Bucky and Steve look over and both their jaws drop when they see Natasha and May work in near perfect unison to take down ten Hydra men. “Wow.” 

“We win,” Natasha says, looking around to survey the battlefield. Hulk has three Hydra men in his hands and he’s shaking them around. Thor is standing with Sam and Clint, nodding to something one of them is saying. Daisy and Lincoln are gathering up Hydra weapons and laughing together. As Steve looks to the sky, he sees War Machine and Iron Man flying in, each carrying what looks like a computer server.

Steve feels something loosen in his chest at the sight of his lover flying steady and sure towards the rest of the team. He glances over at Bucky and smiles. “How’d that feel?” 

“It was really nice to be beating Hydra up instead of working for them.” Bucky punches Steve in the shoulder. “It was good to be on the same side.” 

“I’ve missed working with you,” Steve says, smiling at Bucky. “I need to-“

“Go make sure Stark is really okay?” Bucky shoves him. “Get outta here.”

Steve nods and jogs towards where Tony and Rhodey had landed and he moves up to Tony’s side, checking for where Tony was hit. “What hit you and where?” 

“Awww, Stevie bear, you do care!” 

“Tony,” Steve says, teeth clenched.

“Shoulder. Left side. Didn’t even breach the suit. I’ll have a bruise but that’s about it.”

“You sure?” 

“I’m sure. We’ll head in tonight to Lagos and you can exam me.” 

“How do you make it sound dirty?” 

“It’s a gift.” Tony flips up his faceplate and smiles at Steve. “I promise, I’m okay, Steve. I wouldn’t lie about this.”

Steve nods and leans in, kissing Tony. “Do you need to take the servers in?” 

“Nope. RhodeyBear is gonna load ‘em up for us. Wanna ride, Soldier?” 

Steve laughs a little and wraps his arms around Iron Man’s shoulders. He places his feet firmly on top of Tony’s and presses close when Tony wraps an arm around his waist. “And we’re off,” Tony says, lifting up.

Once they reach the hotel, Tony lets Steve help him take off the suit and check his shoulder for damage. “Well? Am I gonna live?” 

“Don’t joke.” Steve frowns and lets out a sigh. “Everything looks okay. How’s your range of motion?” 

Tony does a full rotation of his shoulder. “Good. Like I said, it might bruise, but I’m okay.” 

“Sorry. I just... I hear you should, so I freaked out.”

“It’s fine, Steve. I don’t want you to go crazy about it, but once in a while, when you worry, I kinda like it. Don’t go getting over-protective or anything but yeah. I like it.”

Steve leans in and kisses him. “No promises that I won’t go overboard, but I will always worry about you. I’m glad you’re okay though. Thanks for trying to reassure me you were okay.” 

“Of course. I don’t want you panicking about me when you’re supposed to be fighting.”

Steve nods and wraps his arms around Tony’s shoulders. “Should we shower?” 

“Separately. I just... I know you wouldn’t hurt me, but I can’t.” Tony licks his lips. “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize. It’s fine. Someday, I hope we can shower together, but I also understand if that never happens.”

“I just... I don’t want you to think I don’t want to. I want to, I just... I can’t.” 

Steve cups Tony’s face between his hands and leans in, kissing him. “I know. I understand. I’m not mad. Why don’t you go get your shower and I’ll call for room service?” 

Tony nods, leaning against Steve for a moment before he makes his way into the bathroom. Steve watches him go before he picks up the phone and calls down for a couple of cheeseburgers with fries and a pot of coffee. He’ll drink water, but he knows that Tony will likely make his way to wherever Shield is going to be housing the servers for their scientists to look at. Hopefully, since Coulson oversaw the operation, he’ll let Tony play with the computers and get whatever they can off them.

Steve strips off the top half of his uniform, then sits down to take off his boots and socks. He looks up when the door to the bathroom opens and he smiles. “Hey,” he murmurs, watching Tony stop in mid-step and stare at him. “Did you get clean?” 

“Uh.” Tony shakes himself and nods. “Sorry. Yeah. Your turn. Did you order me coffee?” 

“A whole pot. I also ordered cheeseburgers and fries, since I know that’ll entice you to eat. I’m gonna take a quick shower myself. I’ll be right back.”

“You got it,” Tony says, licking his lips.

“You can come watch me,” Steve offers, cocking one eyebrow up. “I’m not asking you to join me, but... you really enjoyed watching me swim when we were in Italy, so...” 

“No, because if I come in there with you, I’ll want to do more than watch.” Tony smiles. “Maybe after we eat, we could...” 

“If you want,” Steve replies heading into the bathroom. He leaves the door open, an invitation to Tony to join him at any time he wishes. He gets out of his uniform after struggling with the zipper for a moment, then he’s stepping into the shower. He lets the water beat down on his neck and shoulders for a few moments before he grabs the soap and begins washing himself. Keeping an ear out for any noises Tony might make, he takes his time getting clean-- admitting to himself that if Tony is watching, he wants to put on a show for him. He laughs a little at himself, knowing how ridiculous that is. Yet, he still keeps sliding his soapy hands over his body, one hand going to slide along his dick with just enough pressure to make him hard. He licks his lips, eyes closing as he lets out a quiet moan.

“Oh my God, Stevie! Shut the door when you’re doing that shit!?” 

Steve jumps and glares at Bucky. “What the fuck are you doing in my room?” 

“Came to see if you wanted to grab food. Stark said you were showering and I could duck in.” Bucky laughs. “Your boy headed down to the basement to check out the servers that they brought in.” 

“Get out, Buck!” Steve hops out of the shower and slams the door to the bathroom shut, shaking his head. He’s not as embarrassed as he probably should be, but he is pissed off that Bucky just walked in. With a sigh, he climbs back in the shower cleaning off the suds. At least the sudden arrival of Bucky took care of his hard on. He grabs a towel as he flicks off the water and heads out to the main room. He glances around and spots the covered tray, but there’s no one else in the room. He lifts the lid on the tray and smiles a little. There’s only one cheeseburger and half of his fries are gone. He knows Bucky probably took the fries, but no one would’ve dared take Tony’s cheeseburger, so Steve is happy he at least ate before he ran away to play with the computer. 

He laughs a little at himself, knowing how much Tony would kill him if he knew Steve was saying he was “playing” with the computer. Steve dressed quickly and rubs a towel through his hair as he eats his cheeseburger and fries, grabbing a bottle of water from the mini-fridge. He looks up when the door opens and then sighs when Sam and Natasha walk in. 

“Don’t look so happy to see us, Steve,” Sam says, glancing around. He nods. “Never mind. I think Tony’s gonna be busy with the geek squad for a while.”

Natasha smacks him on the back of the head and grins. “Did you eat? Tony told me to make sure you eat.” 

“I’m not the one who goes for days without eating.” Steve considers that statement. “I’m just the one who could if I needed to, go for days without eating without passing out.”

Natasha shrugs. “You’re not the only one who worries.” She flops down in one of the chairs in the room and looks at Steve. “So.” 

Steve just looks back at her for a moment or two before he shrugs. “What do you want me to say?” 

“Are you pissed at him?” 

“For what?” 

“Getting hurt?” 

“No.” Steve sits down on the edge of the bed. “Little upset he left the room without telling me. I...” Steve closes his eyes and shrugs. “I had plans for after my shower and instead Bucky... Well, let’s say it certainly seems like the old Bucky is back.” Steve scowls, plucking at a loose thread on the hotel bedspread. 

Natasha chuckles and shakes her head. “Well, I can take you to Stark, but seeing as you don’t have a motherboard or microchips, he probably won’t be very interested in you tonight.” 

Steve sighs again. “It’s fine. Maybe I’ll go for a run or something.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Sam says. “You’ll come out with those of us not on the geek squad. Even Thor isn’t going down with the geek squad.” 

“Stop calling them that,” Steve says, frowning at Sam. “They’re not geeks. They’re geniuses. They’re brilliant and amazing, all of them.” 

“But mostly Stark, right?” Sam asks, smirking at Steve. “Come on. We’re gonna go play pool and drink and watch sports in a little hole in the wall Clint found. They probably have soccer on and call it football.” 

“They had football before we did,” Steve comments as he tugs on his socks and shoes, then grabs his jacket and wallet. “Let’s go. Thor and I can try to get drunk on beer.” 

Natasha pushes to her feet, hooking her arms through Steve and Sam’s. “Let’s go, boys. The rest of them are meeting us at the bar.”


End file.
